This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Known well head covers used in landfill and similar gas production wells have an exhaust sleeve through which a methane gas discharge pipe is led. The methane gas discharge pipe is the single largest service pipe or tube connected to the well head. Where multiple service ports are required, they are typically added downstream of the well head covers, or are tapped into the covers at different locations where the well head cover is not designed to provide direct support for the weight of components connected to the well head covers.
Known problems with existing well head covers include bending/deflection problems due to the provision of only a single discharge pipe support member that vertically supports the discharge pipe. With only a single sleeve or support flange the weight and moment of the methane gas discharge pipe and its associated valves and components can cause the components at the weld head to bend or sag. This can result in cracking and/or gas leakage of the discharge pipe or associated components, and/or disorientation of components such as an orifice plate assembly used for flow rate determination, which can lead to inaccurate flow measurements. In addition, due to the limited production volume of plastic well head covers for this service, well head cover material is commonly the same material as the well piping, therefore, the color of known well head covers is normally the same gray or pale white as the piping. Vehicles used to service the hundreds of wells of a common landfill often strike and therefore damage the well pipes because the vehicle drivers cannot visually distinguish the wells. Painting existing well head cover designs using a high visibility color is time consuming and expensive, and the paint often is degraded or peels due to the environmental conditions present at landfill operations.